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Friday, January 25, 2013

Tartan and Taffy

Happy Robert Burns' birthday! I'm still working on my 1940 tartan dress but realized I had a nearly finished Taffy blouse (from the Colette pattern book) lingering about and decided to finish it up to wear this evening! I picked the pink colour for the blouse to go specifically with my tartan Ness skirt and matching shoes...perfect for a Burns evening.

This was a relatively easy blouse project but not as quick as I thought it would be. I did a quick tissue fit and set out to cut out the very thin and sometimes slippery fabric. I'm not sure exactly what the blouse fabric is made of, I'm thinking it might be a cotton voile. I cut each piece separately and tried to avoid slippage by placing the fashion fabric on top of a piece of wool to cut.

I finished the entire blouse with french seams. I really love this method of finishing as it encases the seam completely.

Then the blouse sat in my UFO pile for 2 months waiting for the bias binding on the neck and around the sleeves. I attached the bias binding by hand which took about 2 hours but I really love the effect!

The sleeves are fantastic on this blouse! The only issue is that the neckline is a bit wider and puckers ever so slightly in the front and back. I think this is where the tissue fitting may have disguised a need to alter the neckline. Alas, lesson learned. I still plan to wear the blouse all the time. I love it!

Plus, it goes with my Ness tartan skirt and shoes! I don't have much in my closet at the moment that goes with them--so I am super happy about the new blouse. I plan to sew up a 1940 dress sometime this spring that matches the shoes too!

We found this amazing 'close' or alleyway just off the Royal Mile near the Parliament building. What looks like just an archway from the main street, leads into a quaint courtyard with some really old buildings. One of these buildings has the date '1653' over the door meaning these buildings where built over 100 years before Robert Burns first came to the city...

I will probably wear the blouse under a jacket most of the time, which is perfect because it hides the neckline faults!

Every restaurant in the city is booked up tonight with Scots celebrating Robert Burns' birthday with a traditional supper of Haggis, Neeps and Tatties (turnips and potatoes) and a reading of Robert Burns' 'Ode to the Haggis' poem.

Instead of the traditional supper, we are getting together with a friend and going to a local Scottish pub where we will partake of some whiskey and take turns reading our favourite Burns poems.

That happened with a bias binding neckline I've made too - seems like there is just too much ease with the binding and you feel like it needs tightening up. Not sure what the solution is, maybe measure and cut the required amount and then just make sure it lasts the distance without using more than required? Anyway, you look sweet and refreshing and will warm the hearts of all those that see you tonight.

Love the colour of your blouse. I also found the neckline rather large when I made this. Not having made a toile, I fixed the gaping neckline by adding a one inch pleat in the centre front of the neckline and was surprised how much I like this even though I did it after stitching on (by machine) the binding.

I grew up on the west coast of Canada, and yet the principal of my elementary school had a fascination with Robbie Burns Day, so every year we had an assembly and each kid in the school had to eat a bite of haggis on a saltine cracker while he played the bagpipes. I have yet to try it as an adult, but when I was a kid it was one of my most dreaded days of the year! You look great, by the way! Such a bright shot of color in winter.

Off the Royal Mile, you said? I think I know that close... I spend a semester at ECA as an exchange student years ago and keep feeling nostalgia for Edinburgh whenever I see your pictures of the city...

I like your outfit and I hope you had a great night!Just one thing though... the obsessed seamstress in me won't be suppressed and it bothers her that Ness didn't match that bias cut check at any seam...

Oh, what a marvellous outfit, Debi! I adore that Ness skirt and the shoes?! Be still my tartan-loving heart! Your Taffy is so pretty and suits you really well. Pink and red is one of my favourite colour combinations.

I really -love- that outfit, it's adorable on you. I have a 60's dress in my closet with a similarly set sleeve - it's super-comfy! I wish my bodyshape would allow me to wear shorter skirts but despite trying several different patterns, I can't find any to really fit someone as short and plump as myself... That jacket, however, I have a keen eye to - love it!

What a great poem! thanks for highlighting it for us. I've enjoyed reading your blog since I first found it via sew weekly I guess almost 2 years ago! I've been loving your recent posts incorporating more of Scotland! My brother lived in Scotland back in 2002-2003 and your posts are bringing back fabulous memories of visiting him over christmas, being dumbfounded by Edinburgh's Hogmanay, exploring they city, hills, and countryside. We stayed in a gloriously old little apartment off the royal mile that felt just like the one in this post too! Thanks!